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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26262370">Barely Functional Lesbians (Working Title)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViviKarma/pseuds/ViviKarma'>ViviKarma</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ALL THE ANGST, Barely Functional Lesbians, Deadly Slow Burn, Death, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Forbidden Romance (Kinda), Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Kind of a fix-it, M/M (Mentioned), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Refusal to admit feelings, Smut (not until later ya nasties), Yelling, injuries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:28:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,035</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26262370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViviKarma/pseuds/ViviKarma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Van der Linde gang, on their journey through the freezing Grizzlies West, encountered a woman of unfortunate findings. Mrs. Adler, she had introduced herself as, keeping the title of Mrs even after her husband's unfortunate murder by Colm O'Driscoll's boys. Adjusting to life with a gang of ruthless outlaws was easier than she had anticipated. But the people she met and the friendships she formed were more meaningful than she had originally thought. One may even bloom into something more.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abigail Roberts Marston/John Marston, Arthur Morgan/Charles Smith (if you squint), Dutch Van der Linde/Hosea Matthews (if you squint), Dutch Van der Linde/Molly O'Shea (Mentioned), Sadie Adler/Molly O'Shea, Sean MacGuire/Karen Jones (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Barely Functional Lesbians (Working Title)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The chilled winds of the mountains and the relentless snowstorm were biting at Sadie's cheeks as she rode with this mysterious man on the back of his horse. It had been nearly three days since those bastards had taken her home and her husband away from her. Though now she had no choice but to go with these men to a hopefully safer place. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re safe now.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Those words echoed through her head as the first real words spoken to her on the journey back. The train of men on horses soon stopped and Sadie came to a little more as she was helped off of the small horse, she caught traces of dialogue between the man and an older looking woman. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ms. Grimshaw, you get her safe and warmed up.” The man in the black coat said as he handed her off to this woman, another stranger. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sadie was hesitant to say the least, still refusing to say anything substantial. Ms. Grimshaw led her into one of the less dilapidated buildings, where several other women were huddled up. The older woman led her over to sit by the fire, offering her a chair but Sadie just stood in stoic silence. Taking the hint, the one she assumed was called Ms. Grimshaw, left her be so she could tend to the other women. All of them looked just as worse for wear, the winds outside picked up further and shook the unstable home. Sadie already knew the rest of this night would be rough, nothing would change that. Too soon, her eyes began to grow heavy and weary, the tears blurring her vision as sleep grabbed hold of her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The next few days were just as painful and cold as she expected. Winds still howled and the heavy snowflakes swirled like a cyclone outside. Sadie still found those painful tears stinging her cheeks as she tried, so desperately tried, to grieve her husband. Everything hurt, inside and out, all she could find herself doing was crying and trying to understand these people around her. Names had been dropped here and there, Susan seemed to be the one in the large fur coat and Mary-Beth was the one constantly trying to comfort her. Despite their clear status as outlaws on the run, they behaved more like a family than anything else. Sadie at least tried to take comfort in that part. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can we get some help here?!” A voice called suddenly from outside, very clearly one of the men. Sadie vaguely recognized it as Arthur, one of the men who had rescued her merely nights ago. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It brought Sadie out of her own head briefly, both the sound of the voice and the commotion of a man being brought in on a makeshift stretcher. He was wounded badly and bleeding, the scars reminiscent of a wolf attack. Unfortunately, she had been witness to the absolute horrors wolves and bears could reap onto animals and people alike. Watching everyone scramble to take care of  this injured man further distracted her, before the images of her husband being brutally beaten and murdered flashed back in her head. More tears brimmed and she pushed her way outside, the icy wind immediately gripping her exposed skin as she tried to drown out the noise both inside and outside of her head. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her thoughts were quickly cut into by an abrupt voice. “Mrs. Adler. What are you doing out in this cold?” The voice came from someone vaguely new, a man she had seen in the house a few times, he seemed the quiet type but a good man nonetheless. “You should get inside, this cold could kill you.” He further told her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I…” That one letter was all she could muster as far as a decipherable word. She looked up at the broad man in front of her. He had long, dark hair and a very dark complexion with broad features. His face gave the idea that he was perpetually hostile, however that wasn’t the impression Sadie had gotten. “I...don’t...know…” Her voice was broken and barely audible over the winds whipping around them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The man gave a noncommittal hum before leading her back towards the cabin. “You’ll be safer inside, Mrs. Adler.” He said calmly. Clearly he saw that she was not in the mental space to take in too much new information. Most things they had said around her simply bounced off or were ignored. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Reluctantly, Sadie re-entered the cabin to find things had died down to a dull roar as Ms. Grimshaw stitched up the injured man’s face. “T-thank...you.” She forced the words out, throwing a glance back at the man, the kindest she could muster. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sleep became fleeting as the days droned on, the first time had been from sheer exhaustion, but now? It was near impossible to close her eyes and not see the brutal scenes that befell her those three days. It was almost like she could feel the blood on her face, hear her husband’s screams and the taunting laughter of those horrible men. Tears threatened her again as she sat with her back to a wall, everyone else silent and sleeping. All Sadie could think about was running, sprinting away from this band of people, however, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Mainly because she would likely freeze to death, she also considered the fact they had taken her in and saved her life, which was a debt she surely wanted to repay. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The next morning  came with the slow drag of the sun above the horizon, finally, after days the storm had lifted and there were signs of at least a partial thaw. Sadie was already outside, sitting on the stairs simply watching the sun creep over the horizon. For the first time in the days she had been with the group, the world slowed down instead of rushing around her in a flurry of horrid emotions and awful flashbacks. The pain in her chest remained, never ebbing or letting her forget what had been so tragically ripped from her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sadie was dragged from swimming in her own head by commotion coming from the men’s cabins’. Dutch, as she’d come to learn his name, was shouting something about a train and dynamite. She didn’t catch it all, but it sounded important given how many of them were saddling up for a score. For a brief moment, she forgot this band were outlaws, and robbing was part of how they made their livelihood. Brown eyes trailed as the men rode away from camp, leaving it eerily quiet, save for some muffled chatter in the cabin behind her. Snow absorbed sound, the thick blanket covering everything made the world feel peaceful, silent, almost too much so. The silence of the world around her almost kicked up the taunting voices in her head before the door behind her swung open, startling her quite a bit. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was Miss Grimshaw, still adorned in her large coat. The older woman’s blue-green eyes traveled down to the blonde sitting on the stairs, looking more than forlorn. However, instead of being drilled with questions like she expected, Miss Grimshaw simply handed her a cup of warm coffee and patted her shoulder before returning to the cabin. Sadie stared longingly into the metal cup of dark liquid, seeing her own reflection. If she was being honest with herself, she looked like shit, not surprising. She couldn’t bring herself to really care about what she looked like...now that he wasn’t around anymore. One drink of the coffee and she felt the warmth spread through her chest and lungs, which physically warmed her and briefly dulled the pain in her chest. The relief was short lived, however, as the seething pain came back stronger than before. She would cry if she hadn’t all but run out of tears to cry, the pain was too much to bear at this point and all she wanted was to run, to where? She had no idea, so long as she could escape the memories…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mrs. Adler.” A deep voice once again interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see the broad man from before standing in front of her, a good bit of distance between the two. His dark eyes were pools of night but caring nonetheless. No doubt he could see her pain, maybe even feel it a little given how apparent it was in everything she did. “I’m Charles.” His deep voice further rumbled and Sadie made sure to remember his name. He was the first to approach her without the intent to constantly comfort her with those same words she had to hear over and over. Futile attempts at sympathy that made her want to scream at them to shut up. Charles’ silent presence was comforting, like he knew what she needed. He further extended his sympathy by draping a fur coat around her shoulders and nodding to her. To Sadie’s own surprise, she let him put the coat over her. Charles gave her a nod before leaving quietly. In that moment, even if it was only a few. Sadie didn’t feel so alone and it was nice to feel understood by someone where only about four words had been shared between them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the day blurred together into a mix of interactions with a few of the women, not about her grief, which made her feel marginally better. Her desire to cry had lessened but not disappeared and she did find herself expelling a few tears here and there. While she now knew everyone’s names, at least vaguely, there was one woman she had yet to actually meet. The name “Molly” had been thrown around between some of the girls, not that she was listening. However, it seemed to be the only name that didn’t belong to someone already in the cabin with them. Karen even once stated that she was “Dutch’s girl.” whatever that meant.  Sadie was still interested in meeting whoever this Molly was. Maybe she was like Charles, the silent type one would confide in and trust with a secret. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sadie had actually managed a wink of sleep that night, it wasn’t more than an hour, however it was an improvement on the other times she had attempted sleep. It was still early, the sun was creeping up in the sky, but it appeared most of the men were already gone off to rob the train they hadn’t shut up about for what felt like days. Her grief was hitting particularly hard this morning and she decided to take a walk across the snow-covered camp to the other cabin she had seen Dutch enter and leave. Maybe it was quieter there...certainly less people. The crowd within the other cabin felt suffocating and she needed to get away. She slowly pushed the weak door open and hoped the wood creaking wasn’t too loud. The older man that slept here was nowhere to be seen along with Dutch and Arthur, though she knew where they were. Sadie pulled the coat tighter around herself and sat in front of the fire, watching the flames quietly dance across the crackling wood. The gentle noise was peaceful and kept her mind somewhat occupied from the haunting thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She was so engrossed in the flames that she failed to notice the faint sound of wood gently scraping the wood flooring and the further presence of another person next to her. All she knew was the blanket further tightly wrapped around her, the flames of the fire reminding her of the fate that befell her own home, tears falling once more. Soon enough she found a handkerchief in her lap and a lovely freckled girl with fiery red hair sat in a chair beside her. However, the other girl’s focus seemed to be entirely on the fire, as if  she wasn’t aware of the woman next to her. The silence between them spoke volumes, and the simple gesture of the handkerchief meant the world to Sadie as she used it to wipe her eyes. Maybe these ladies actually wanted to help and their sympathy wasn’t false….</span>
</p>
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